Thread: Helical thicknessers - help me choose between CT/Sherwood/Powermatic

If you are going to buried with this thing, then perhaps consider a https://www.gregmach.com/product/woo...er-jointer-hh/ or Hammer such as the A3-31

The Woodman was reviewed highly in a recent AWW magazine. I've seen the Hammer first hand and its fricken awesome. I want one very badly.

They are far more expensive, but for a one-off never to be rebought in a lifetime....?

I think its worth the extra savings.

As way of disclosure Ive a Carbatec segmented portable thicknesser with carbide inserts and a Carbatec branded 6" jointer. They were great to get me off the ground, but by god I drool when using my mates Hammer A3-31

There is a 15" one in the market sub forum for sale in Perth.

SB

I have actually looked at the Woodman offering but pretty sure they're not stocked locally so I'd need to ship one from over east, I have a really hard time putting down this kind of money sight unseen. And Hammer are out, they only offer one standalone thicknesser and it's much larger and pricier than my needs. Never been that keen on combo units and now that my 10" jointer is restored they'd be a bit of a waste.

Re: The one in the classifieds I think it's the same one listed on Gumtree earlier today. I asked for a price on just the thicknesser and he wants $1500, that's a bit much for me. Can't find pricing now but they weren't much more new.

Ah! I thought it was for a combo. My apologies.

Perhaps buy an older heavy duty unit and upgrade the head with a helical? Another mate of mine did that on a massive 4-posted Carbatec unit and its very nice indeed.

All good mate. The upgrade idea had been my plan all along but the Perth second hand market has gone bone dry for decent machines lately and the ones that come up have been too pricey. Ran the numbers on a 15” upgrade and i’d need to get one for a grand or less, see them over east for that price all the time but Perth is all lunchbox thicknessers these days. Saw a ton of good machines last year around that price locally​ but no luck now unfortunately.

Dont forget that EGO couriers can move a pallet to Perth very cheaply indeed.

All you need is a local woodie to help out or the cooperation of the seller to pop it on a pallet and/or drop it to a depot. Its not light-speed, but its cheap and very reliable (but packing and strapping is essential, as with all deliveries).

I wasn't aware of that actually, thanks!

Maybe a machine hunting holiday is in order, I could hunt for a Waldown while I'm at it 😁

Something to watch out for with helical heads: they are not all equal.

Its been a while since I looked at some of these so I hope what I am saying is current but its good to be warned anyway. The Carbatec thicknessers sold with the helical head attached have the inserts parallel to the axis of the cutterhead. The Byrd ones like on the powermatic you mentioned are set at a slight angle so they shear cut the timber for a better finish.

Many of the current 15" thicknessers on offer are made so that the table rises and falls while the cutterhead is fixed. This means if you are thicknessing long stock you have to keep raising your infeed and outfeed supports as you adjust the thickness settings which is a right PITA. On the older models the table is fixed and the cutterhead moves up and down so you set the infeed and outfeed supports once and do not need to adjust again.

Have you considered getting an older model, say a Carbatec CTJ-680 with fixed height tables and spending a day upgrading to the Byrd helical head and giving it a tune up and belt/chain tighten at the same time? It's not hard to do, there's plenty of instructions available on youtube and in the "Grizzly" manuals online. They are far more comprehensive than Carbatec manuals but you have to look out for subtle changes.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Doug

I had the carbatec straight knife 16 inch version for a few years. I ended up selling it and getting the Powematic. I think it's a great machine if you can afford it. I got mine at the Working with Wood show here in Sydney (still from Carbatec) when it was on special. The many positive reviews I saw online proved to be accurate.

You should be able to get better pricing out of Carbatec. That looks like "list price".

Good luck with your decision.

cheers,

ajw

Cheers for the info Doug and ajw.

Ajw you made a good point about the Working with Wood show, the WA Wood show is on beginning of August so it's probably beneficial to hold onto my money until then when the discounts are deepest. Would love to hear more opinions in the meantime!

Personally I'd steer clear of the Sherwood one, I've got one of their 16" bandsaws and everything on it is bit lacking, poorly designed bearing, cheap motor and fence wobbly.

I did the sums a while back and you could get the Carbatec straight cutter head thicky, plus the helical head from Wizard and still come out below the RRP price of the Spiral head unit. Plus have a spare cutter head if needed.

If i were in your shoes that would be the route I'd go.

However if your budget will allow its hard to go past the Powermatic unit.

Originally Posted by tonzeyd

I did the sums a while back and you could get the Carbatec straight cutter head thicky, plus the helical head from Wizard and still come out below the RRP price of the Spiral head unit. Plus have a spare cutter head if needed.

If i were in your shoes that would be the route I'd go.

Pretty much what I said above, I chose to upgrade my carbatec straight knife machine to spiral rather than replace it with a spiral head machine. They just don't make the machines as well as they used to, so now I have the best of both worlds.

Cheers

Doug

I'd go the Powermatic.....buy once, no regrets.

Sturt School for Wood over here bought that same model of Powermatic some years ago, and I got the chance to use it while attending a course there. Lovely machine, with fit and finish way better than anything you'll see from Carbatec. I must admit, I did run all my stocks of brushbox (high silica content) through the Sturt machine while I had the use of it......

Have you considered a combination machine?

Not sure if you already got a jointer? if not you could get a good quality helical combo machine for a bit more. That way you get the head in both machines. I was in your position about 5 years ago when I upgraded my machinery and really wanted the helical cutters. I ended up getting a combo and couldn't be happier.